I won’t quit one-dayers like Stokes, promises last man standing Jonny

JONNY BAIRSTOW has no plans to follow Ben Stokes into 50-over retirement and insists he wants to carry on playing for England in all three formats as long as possible. Bairstow is something of a last man standing among England’s all-format players, with injuries and retirements ruling out a host of others, but has the appetite to buck the trend in a schedule packed to bursting point. ‘I’ll be going all out for as long as I can,’ said Bairstow (below) at Old Trafford yesterday ahead of the rain-affected second one-day international against South Africa. ‘There might come a time when I have to make a decision but in the near future I can’t see me making a choice because I love being part of all three squads. ‘They’re all different and great to be part of. You go into a new one and you’ve got a freshness and new faces with energy about them.’ Bairstow is a big fan of the beleaguered 50-over format that is under particular threat from the proliferation of Twenty20 franchise leagues worldwide that are increasingly challenging the primacy of international cricket. ‘I think 50-overs is a really good format and the journey we went through to eventually win the 2019 World Cup was amazing,’ Bairstow told Mike Atherton on Sky TV. ‘I also think 50-overs is a stepping stone to Test cricket because you get worked over for longer, you come through difficult periods and play good shots. We’re lucky in this country that 50-over cricket is well backed and we loved playing it.’ Bairstow produced the form of his life in England’s early season Test transformation, making four centuries in three matches as they whitewashed New Zealand 3-0 and then beat India. But he denies that the prioritising of the ultimate form of the game since the appointment of new captain in Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum has had an adverse effect on the once-all conquering white-ball sides. ‘I wouldn’t say that,’ said Bairstow of a team who lost their first two white-ball series under the captaincy of Jos Buttler and the first ODI against South Africa. ‘The last ODI before these games we played was last summer, so we have to be realistic. ‘The group that won the World Cup was together a long time. You get used to the rhythm of playing together and we played a lot of 50-over cricket in the lead-up. Now we haven’t played it for a long time and you couple that with a new coach, some guys retiring and new guys coming in. It will take time to bed it all in.’ But Bairstow, who struggled with the bubble life imposed on England’s cricketers throughout the pandemic more than most, is relishing his hectic summer. ‘I feel good,’ he said. ‘There’s a difference now. I hated Covid. Not being able to see my friends and family and go out. I feed off the crowd’s energy. My personality has been able to come out again.’